On the evening of Friday, September 13, Museum Rotterdam will be transformed into an underground jazz and swing club for one night only.

Underground Jazz Club

For those who love to dance the lindy hop, jive, jitterbug and charleston, Museum Rotterdam is putting on the perfect night. The 1940s will live again as the Rotterdam Jazz Band will help recreate the heady atmosphere of illicit jazz and riotous nights out.

A prohibition on jazz

Jazz and swing clubs were banned in the Netherlands under German occupation in the 1940s, but you can't stop young people from wanting to go out and have a good time. Through the bans, curfews and blackouts, people still snuck out to dance, mingle and enjoy themselves. The jazz clubs moved underground and to the shadier districts of town. Katendrecht in Rotterdam was one such area, and the scene secretly thrived.

Photo credit: Arthur Geurtsen

After Liberation Day, the prohibition on English and American music being played anywhere was lifted, and the radios played jazz freely, but the jazz clubs did not immediately reopen. The Dutch government believed the younger generation had grown used to being wild during the war and that these clubs encouraged decadent behaviour.

However, by the end of the 1940s, jazz and swing were being established again, and it now remains a popular part of Dutch musical culture.

Attending Underground Jazz Club

Museum Rotterdam is located just a few steps away from metro station Coolhaven, so arriving by public transport is easy and recommended. 

No tickets are needed for the event, and you can find out all about Underground Jazz Club in English on the Rotterdam Agenda website.